Critical Review Assignment Instructions
- Choose
only one of the following books
to do a Critical Book Review:
-The
Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd isbn:978-0-670-02478-0
-The
Slave Community: Plantation Life in the Antebellum South by John
Blassingame
-Parlor
Politics: In Which the Ladies of Washington Help Build a City and a Government by
Catherine Allgor
-The
American Revolution by Edward Countryman
-The
Shawnee Prophet by R. David Edmunds
-Roll
Jordan Roll: the World the Slaves Made by Eugene Genovese
-The
Barbary Wars: American Independence in the Atlantic World by Frank Lambert
-Martin
Van Buren: The Romantic Age of American Politics by John Niven
-The
Life of Andrew Jackson by Robert Remini
-Celia a Slave by Melton
McLaurin
Read the book which you have selected from the syllabus.
2. Write a two to three pages double spaced
critical review of the book using 12 font Time New Roman style. The following
rubric identifies what the review should include:
a. Biographical information on the author, addressing
the question of how does the authors’ background influence their interpretation
of the historical evidence.
b. What is the theme or main thesis of the book?
c. Does the author or authors effectively support
their thesis?
d. What are the strengths and weaknesses of the text
e. Evaluate the sources used in the text: Are they
primary or secondary sources? Are they updated or old sources? Has the author
excluded other key sources that would add to the depth of the book
f. What is
your assessment of the author’s thesis? How would you change or modify the main
ideas?